he wasn't a 'trendsetter', he latched onto whatever was cool and 'arty' and took it from there. This went right back to The League Of Long men in the mid sixties, to getting involved with mime later in the decade. How was he 'relevant' in the first place? What was he relevant to?

You were wrong about punk and wrong about Bowie. You don't hae a great track record when it comes to this subject .

I believe so. I await Ullman's more extensive knowledge to confirm this.

I might be mistaken but I think Mick Ronson was the only member of The Rats who went on to become one of the Spiders From Mars. There was another link from The Rats to Bowie though and that was drummer John Cambridge, who worked with Bowie before Mick did. It was Cambridge who came back to Hull to recruit Mick for Bowie's band.

"I own up. I am a serial risk taker. I live in a flood zone, cycle without a helmet, drink alcohol and on Sunday I had bacon for breakfast."

he wasn't a 'trendsetter', he latched onto whatever was cool and 'arty' and took it from there. This went right back to The League Of Long men in the mid sixties, to getting involved with mime later in the decade. How was he 'relevant' in the first place? What was he relevant to?

An artist who has been hugely influential in various different areas and over a very long period of time. You would struggle to find many British solo artists that have had the same amount of influence. As for being relevant, the amount of interest in his return to the studio amongst art and music critics would show he is still considered relevant and contemporary. This return is about new material and not some retro nostalgia tour it is not clear if he will even tour. Whether he was a trendsetter is largely debatable but there is some truth in it.

You are confusing 'I do not like David Bowie or his music' with him having no relevance.

I might be mistaken but I think Mick Ronson was the only member of The Rats who went on to become one of the Spiders From Mars. There was another link from The Rats to Bowie though and that was drummer John Cambridge, who worked with Bowie before Mick did. It was Cambridge who came back to Hull to recruit Mick for Bowie's band.

An artist who has been hugely influential in various different areas and over a very long period of time. You would struggle to find many British solo artists that have had the same amount of influence. As for being relevant, the amount of interest in his return to the studio amongst art and music critics would show he is still considered relevant and contemporary. This return is about new material and not some retro nostalgia tour it is not clear if he will even tour. Whether he was a trendsetter is largely debatable but there is some truth in it.

You are confusing 'I do not like David Bowie or his music' with him having no relevance.

no I asked the poster what he thought Bowie was relevant to. I'm asking you now that you as the other poster did, invoked it in a meaningless way. Influential? In his field and amomgst his admirers-but leeching onto trends asoprting them to look cool and artistic: right from thr lerague of long haired men, lyndsay kemp and mime, the eternally super cool weimar republic, the already bubbling androgynous glam scene and so on. He wrote some good songs, but not many...but that is a value judgement of mine. Most of pop music if not all of it is phoney: Bowie was and seemingly is again an oiutstanding example of it.

Bowie's done lots of stuff over the years that I absolutely love. He's also come out with some dreadfully pretentious codswallop at the same time, often on the same album. 'Hunky Dory' and 'Ziggy Stardust' have some fantastic songs, especially.

A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it isn’t open. Frank Zappa (1940 - 1993)

I have liked Bowie since I first saw him on Top of the Pops in the early/mid-70s. I think Ziggy, Station to Staion and Low are particularly good albums.

He has made a number of mistakes both in some of the records he made and one or two of his pronouncements.

David Bowie is obviously relevant to his audience - they people who like his music.

How was he phoney ? When he made some soul-influenced albums he referred to them as "Plastic Soul" - he knew he wasn't from Philly.

Were the Beatles and the Stones phonies for recording Tamla / R&B originals ? Were the Band phonies for recording in an American style when they were mostly Canadian. Are Kraftwerk phonies for using electronic instruments ?

Bowie's done lots of stuff over the years that I absolutely love. He's also come out with some dreadfully pretentious codswallop at the same time, often on the same album. 'Hunky Dory' and 'Ziggy Stardust' have some fantastic songs, especially.

Agreed but dont most artists,Bowie inspired a later generation of artists,mind you this latest offering is a bit suicidal